Month: November 2013

folktales, illustration, imagination, ipads, storytelling, writing

Writing Fairy Tales with K-2

saralissapaulson

Creating fairy tales with 1st graders

After reading and discussing fairy tales, StoryWorld cards give students an array of characters, settings, and magical elements to expand the possibilities of their fairy tales.

Here is how I used Storyworld cards to inspire kids to “tell” fairytales:
1. Pick your favorite versions of fairy tales. After reading, discuss the flow of the story:
Characters & setting: How does the storyteller set the scene, or introduce the characters and the setting.
Problem: What difficulties arise? What problem do the main characters run into?
Solution: how do the characters solve the problem? Does some kind of magic help them or do they use their cleverness and bravery and do it themselves?
Conclusion: In all fairy tales, no matter how horrible the conflict,or how numerous the problems, the main characters always overcome them.

2. Divide StoryWorld cards into three piles: character cards, magical element cards, and setting cards. Divide each pile between the groups. An adult should be assigned to each group so group according to how many adults you have.

3. Have small groups dictate their stories with the use of the cards. The adult records.

4. Type the stories, divvying up the text into pages, and give to the art teacher, keeping a copy for yourself.

5. On the iPad (I use Book Creator), or in Garageband on the computer, have same students read aloud the story page by page, creating a different audio track for each page.

Meanwhile…In art class, they can create the illustrations in an handmade book using whatever medium they are studying in art.

6. On the iPad, take photos of the illustrations. You will crop later, so don’t worry about the photos being perfect.

7. Open each photo, enhance and crop.

8. Open Book Creator and create a new book. Add the first picture. Add a text box and type in the words for the first page. You can create a background color to the text or leave it to bleed onto the illustration. Do the same for each page.

9. When you finish, Send to iBookShelf or save as a PDF and upload it to the Internet.

With Storyworld cards, their stories are full of wild adventures, like the best fairy tales–taking us through the darkness to the light!

keyboarding

Free keyboarding websites for grades 2-8

saralissapaulson

This month in library grades 2-8 are learning keyboarding. There are many free online keyboarding practice sites.

Dance Mat Typing: We are using this with grades 2-4. This is a fun site to teach correct keyboarding technique so your child can become an efficient typist.

Learn to Type: We are using this in the library for grades 5-8. Each student has an account and can work ahead at home.

Typing speed test: For grades 5-8, take the typing speed test often! Make sure your child is using all ten fingers.

I hope that at home you will practice keyboarding with these fun sites. Next year one of the tests will be completed on the computer. We want your child to have the keyboarding skills to succeed.